Wild Flower and the X-Men
by iapetus999
Summary: Wild Flower (Carly) has an evil power. Whenever she uses too much, things die. When she encounters Bull-Boy, a friend with the power of a raging bull, she seeks help from the X-Men and others. Can she stop a rogue agent and control her power? Includes Spiderman, Wolverine, Mystique, Charles Xavier, The Beast, Shadowcat, Storm, Quicksilver, and OC's Wild Flower, Bull Boy.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes**

Welcome to the latest in the _Wild Flower Saga_! Based in the Marvel Movie/TV Universe (AO SHIELD, Avengers, X-Men, Spiderman).  
The Wild Flower story starts in _Carly, Teen Hydra Agent_ and continues in _Carly and the Winter Soldier_. This is the 3rd installment.

Carly Richards (aka _Wild Flower_) is a teen Hydra agent, brought up by Hydra parents into that secret society. She's pledged her life to the Cause. Up to now, it's all been a game, an abstract concept, something fun. In this installment, things are getting real, and people are getting hurt by her actions. Carly has a presence inside her, an evil power that's threatening to rip her apart and destroy the world. She needs answers, so she turns to the X-Men for help.

Here's the quick summary so far [Spoilers for the first 2 installments]:

Carly's a Hydra Agent. At first, all she knows is that she has some extra-human strength and healing ability. She sneaks into the Governor's Ball to investigate rumors that the Governor's son has super powers that Hydra might want to exploit. Turns out they're right: Lance has the power of a Bull and almost kills Carly. But her super-strength saves her, and she gets a sudden crush on Lance. SHIELD is there, too, for the same reason, and Carly has a run-in with Skye. She escapes with the help of fellow Hydra agent Larry, but reels when her friend Becky reveals that Carly's father is alive and is being held by SHIELD so Carly better do what they want.

In the second story, Carly find that she has a strange power-she can make flowers grow. When she's assigned a stake-out to find the Winter Soldier and gets caught up in a gang of thugs, Bucky rescues her. As they fight to survive against forces seeking to capture Bucky, Carly discovers more of her powers, and when they are surrounded, Carly uses her power to turn D.C. into jungle, allowing Bucky to escape. As a reward, Carly is brought to see her father, who tells her a terrible truth: her power is far greater than anything she can imagine:  
It's the Power of the Hydra. Whatever hurts her makes her stronger. And if someone tries to kill her-she's a ticking time bomb.

_Trigger Advisory: Nothing really, mostly comic-book-style violence, mild sexual situations but nothing graphic._

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**Wild Flower and the X-Men**  
_Carly Richards, Teen Hydra Agent_

by

Iapetus999

**Chapter One**

Carly Richards stood in the ballroom of the Virginia Governor's Mansion, setting up her display. No one suspected she was Wild Flower, the scourge of Washington, D.C., the out-of-control super-villain who had turned D.C. into a dying jungle of monster cherry trees. Or that she was an Agent of Hydra, that so-called evil organization. If the world only knew—but she wasn't here for Hydra.

Carly was here to enter the State Science Fair. Not that she gave a rip about Science—well, maybe, one small aspect of it: what the crap had been done to her? What had turned her into a freak capable of destroying cities with rampaging plants? Not that she might ever find out. Not without finding her father again. Then again, that wasn't even the _real_ reason she was here.

Bull-Boy, aka Lance Conrad, was the Governor's super-hunky son with the power of a raging bull. After their clandestine meeting at the diner, his people had shut off all contact between them, not even allowing a text or a tweet. Lance was locked up tight, but this was his home. If Carly could just establish some kind of contact…the feel of his lips on hers still lingered, the strength of the bull in his arms, that look of desire that lit his eyes…maybe there was some way to still her heart. Or set it loose…

So when she heard of this Science Fair, set right in the same room where she'd first encountered Mr. Beefcake, she spent all her time reading up on Science and Biology and all the nerdy textbooks she'd been avoiding. It might be her last chance to see him before they shipped Lance to some development facility where they could exploit his powers, turn him into a Weapon For Freedom or some other nonsense.

Someone tapped a microphone noisily. "Ahem. Hello? Okay. Reminder, the floor will be open soon. You have 15 minutes to finish your setups. Good luck!"

Carly rushed to set up her pots and plants and charts with lines and equations and chemical formulas. The ballroom was set up with long folding tables in rows, tape marking each student's space with a sheet of paper declaring the project. Dozens of students busied themselves in a murmur of voices and scrapes, erecting large cardboard structures detailing their projects, along with towers of computer monitors glowing with videos and moving charts. Carly had nothing like that, just some tomatoes and daisies in pots. She had no intention of competing with anyone around her, she just wanted a glimpse at Lance. Maybe she could slip a message to him. Anything. The boy next her stacked glass aquariums full of spider webs. One of the arachnids snapped at her, if that was possible. She should crush the thing with her power, but no, let it be. Only worry if the creepy arachnids escape.

"Hey," she said to the boy, a jittery sort with glasses and the inability to make eye contact. "Impressive display."

"Thanks," he said in a mumble.

Carly looked at his work. Boy's name was Peter something. "Radiation?"

"Yeah," he said. "Should kill them, but it makes them stronger."

"Wow." Carly shivered. That was her power. What should kill things, she made stronger…and then they died anyways. "I'm doing something like that with plants. Hey, when there's a break we should compare notes."

"Sure," he said unconvincingly, putting his nose on one of his tanks and staring at a bug.

A presence stood in front of Carly's booth. Some man waited, along with two others behind him in dark jackets, shades, and prominent gun bulges. The man held up one of Carly's pots and studied it. "I thought you were never to step foot in these premises again," said the Governor, looking down his nose at Carly, holding the plant as if he was about to drop it. Last time she was here, he'd sucker-punched her to the face, driving her to the floor and loosening her teeth. He was enhanced somehow, with some super power. Now he was inches from her face, her butt pressing the table, no escape.

Curses. So much for seeing Lance. So much for not getting thrown in jail and tortured. This was the stupidest idea she'd ever had. A Science Fair?

"Careful, sir." A bearish man walked up and took the pot from the Governor and placed it back on Carly's table. Wait—not a man. An animal with blue fur and claws and reading glasses. "Please observe but don't touch the student's exhibits."

Carly's jaw dropped. The blue beast-man held out his claw as he shouldered away the Governor and placed himself in front of Carly.

"We're watching you," yelled the Governor as he tromped away.

Carly took the furry hand and shook it, trying not to tremble. That was close. Guess they didn't want to make a scene. So who was this guy? The Beast? A veritable superhero? And definitely not someone who would have any business with Hydra. What the furry hey?

"Name's Dr. Hank McCoy. I'm one of the judges here today. Impressive display you have." He threw her a gentle smile while he eyed the Governor away.

Carly studied the woman standing a bit behind him, looking bored as heck with a frown on her face. She was probably the most prettiest woman Carly'd ever seen, with long blond hair and arching eyebrows.

"Oh, this is Miss Raven Darkhölme, my assistant for the day."

Raven didn't even look at Carly, just a sigh escaping her lips. Kinda how Carly felt about Science. Before all this…

"So," said Beast, "tell me about your project."

Carly's lips stumbled. She'd forgotten about this part—that she might actually have to explain her experiment.

"Um, uh."

Dr. Beast read her charts. "So how did you control the Heberg Reaction? Or refract the Spatzer particles?"

"I—I couldn't. There's a problem."

A big one.

"It says here that you can demonstrate."

Carly recovered enough to spew her prepared spiel, all the lies that she'd cobbled together from various science journals. "Yes. The world faces a climate disaster. Crops are failing all across the world, famine is spreading, and with that comes social unrest, war, and destruction. As the recent events in D.C. demonstrate, there may be a path for rapid plant growth, the ability to feed millions. Here we have a common tomato." Carly held up a small seedling. "Here I have an extract from some of the destroyed plants of D.C."

She held up a syringe filled with absolutely nothing but dyed water. She poked the plant with it, then used her power to make it grow. The tomato plant popped out some flowers and then a green tomato which quickly turned red. She plucked it and handed it to Beast. "But too much and it dies." She forced the plant into overgrowth and it quickly turned black.

Now Carly had Raven's full attention. The tomato in Beast's hand burst and dripped black juice onto his paw. But this was Carly's chance. She caught Dr. McCoy's attention, handing him a towel. She hadn't anticipated this encounter, but now that it was in front of her, this might be an opportunity.

"What I need is help," she said, quietly, so only they could hear. "I need help figuring this out. You see how dangerous this kind of 'Science' can be. It could be used to feed the world—or destroy it. It all depends on how it's used, and who controls it."

"I understand," said Beast, eyeing her through his glasses. He nodded to Raven, and she handed her a card. "If you need help with your…experiments…I'm always willing to lend an ear. Thank you for this demonstration. It was…impressive." He handed Carly the towel and moved on to the spider-dude's display.

Raven stood there, eyeing Carly for a long moment. There was a darkness in her, despite the almost-yellow eyes.

"Pleasure meeting you," said Carly, holding out a hand.

Raven made no move to take it. She studied Carly's display, made completely of petals as if it was a Rose Bowl Parade float. "God, I hate flowers," said the woman at last and moved off.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Thanks for the follows and reviews! They really help keep me motivated.

It is a lot of fun mixing and matching Marvel characters with my own.

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**Chapter Two**

"Nice job," said the girl in the booth next to Carly after they presented Carly with a "3rd Best Use of Display Materials" ribbon.

Great. A ribbon for the nice-looking charts. Woo. Her power was good for something: making a flowery display. Carly suspected someone must have felt sorry for her, being one of the few women who'd entered the fair. Some suit mentioned after looking at her petal-display that she might have a career in Marketing, and that she should think about Business School when she graduated, a much better career for a young woman than Science.

Huh? It was all Carly could do to stop herself from strangling the dude with her plants. There was no reason women couldn't be just as good or even better than men at Science. Next year she vowed to do a real project with real research, just to show them. And she'd take her display seriously too…no more frilly flowers

"Thanks," said Carly, eyeing the girl and her reams of charts and computer algorithms. It was the end of a long day and Carly just wanted to leave.

"Ginger," said the girl, holding out her hands. Ginger had a ginger look, red curly hair, freckles, pasty complexion. Thick glasses. But a nice figure, tasteful clothes.

"Carly." They shook.

"What I don't get about your work is that you never identify the agent."

"Agent?"

"The thing that makes your plants grow unnaturally. You claim that you isolated it in a syringe. So…what is it?"

Curses. Not a single sighting of Lance, and now Nosy Nellie was asking questions that Carly didn't really want to answer. Or couldn't. Like she knew what her power was. Like she even knew what made a car run or a computer computerate. "Whatever it is, it's powerful."

"So you didn't take it to a lab, isolate it, chemically analyze it?"

"I just catch it and measure its effect. I'll let the squints figure out that sciencey stuff."

"Ah. So much for Real Science, I guess. How do you 'catch it,' exactly? That's not explained here, either." Ginger peered over the charts.

Carly squirmed. What the hell? None of the judges asked these questions. Ginger eyed her with some kind of accusation in her eyes.

"I just gather the affected material and extracted it."

"How?"

Carly looked away. Girl was on it. Actual smart. Science-smart. A squint. Glasses were the giveaway. "Okay, well, I didn't extract it myself. I just acquired it." Well, that was close to the truth.

"And how did you do that?"

Carly smiled and shrugged. "I can't reveal my sources."

Ginger stepped close, eyeing Carly through her glasses. "So how do you know that it's legit, that it's really the same thing as what destroyed D.C? It could be anything."

Holy carp! "It _is_, okay?"

Ginger shook her head. "Listen. I'm not going to tell you how to do these science fairs, and it's probably a good thing you weren't a finalist. But if you want to get into research or get a scholarship, you're going to have to do a lot better. You can't just throw random flowers up there and call it Science."

If Carly even knew the first thing about her power, where it came from, how it was put inside her… "I know. I'm just trying to understand what happened. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this.

Big sneer. "Oh, don't give me that. Do the actual research. Maybe someday you'll learn something." Ginger turned away, busying herself with dismantling her displays.

Peter nudged her. "I think, yeah. Ginger has a point. We're here to learn."

"What did you learn about all those icky spiders?"

Peter stood straight. "They're not icky. " He put a hand on an aquarium. "Pound for pound, they're the strongest creatures on the planet. Throw in radiation, and they go beyond that. I learned that they don't talk, and that if I want to find out what radiation does to them, I'm going to have to do the experiments."

Carly sighed. They were right. Annoying, but right. Carly didn't just want to be some flower for Hydra, some plastic rose they stick in a vase. She had to find out what was done to her. No one was going to just tell her what she was. She'd have to do the work and find out herself.

After she found Lance, of course, who'd been mysteriously absent from his own house. Now it was tear-down time and still no sign of him anywhere.

Sigh.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Thanks for the reviews!  
Here's my exciting Spiderman chapter. He's not technically an X-man but I thought he'd be fun. I hope to work him into future stories as well.

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**Chapter Three**

Carly stuffed her plants and displays in the back seat of mom's Jag. She threw the last of her display into the trunk, slammed it shut, and hopped into the driver's seat, ready to get the heck out of here. Just as she started the engine, the passenger door opened and someone jumped in.

Carly stared at Lance in shock. He must have been watching her the whole time!

"Go! Go!" he shouted, buckling up and slamming his door. "Move!"

Carly threw the car in gear and peeled out, screeching through the parking lot and out into the street while Lance stared out the back. After a few blocks, he turned back. "All clear. Keep it steady, don't attract attention."

Carly nodded and snuck a peek at him. Damn, he was better than she even remembered, with a tight Captain America logo T-shirt and blue jeans. Face was a little stubbly but strong. Definitely Mr. Beef—

"Look out!"

She narrowly missed a pedestrian who turned and screamed at her. "Okay!"

Lance looked out all the windows for any sign of pursuit. "Jeez, Carly. I can't believe you entered the Science Fair just to see me. You should have seen Dad when he found out."

"What? You don't think I was in there for the Science? I even got a ribbon. You think I'm not smart enough?"

"No, no, I mean—"

Carly gripped the wheel with angry knuckles. Yeah, she had entered the fair for a chance to see him, but after all her work, it had become something more. She didn't need Ginger or Peter or even Lance looking down on her. "Well duh, I hoped I would bump into you, but I didn't plan on it." Well, she did. If only she'd taken the Science part more seriously, folks like Beast or even Ginger might have been able to help her.

Lance smiled. "Okay, okay. Nice going with the ribbon. You know, you're looking really good today, Carly. I maybe think science suits you." He reached out and drew a stray lock away from her face.

Carly grinned but her cheeks flushed with heat. How did he always make her feel so comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time? She could almost feel his gaze on her, burning lines in her face and lower. Did she look at all hot in this dress or frumpy? Was he checking her out enough or too much? Oh! What if it's too little? Is he even interested? Of course, he jumped in. Say something, quick. "So, how goes the beef business?"

Lance shook his head. "Tests, experiments. They've thrown away the radioactive meat theory. Now they're thinking mutant genetics or something. But it gets worse all the time. Every time I change, it takes longer until I get back. I basically sleep in a corral at this point so I don't hurt anyone, and I can't have any visitors, not even friends. I'm like a zoo animal."

"You got out today." _For me._ Carly gripped the wheel even harder, practically bending it. "It's not fair that they single you out because you're different."

"What about you? You have some kind of power thing, right? Don't you have trouble controlling it?"

Carly shook her head. "No." Her power waiting at her fingertips, longing to destroy all life, but all within her control. At least for now. Not that she didn't long to reach out the window and turn the surrounding fields into twisted heaps of decaying monster plants. "But maybe that's the thing. Maybe they need to 'let you out' or something so you can learn."

Lance sighed. "I don't think it's as much about me controlling it as figuring out how to let other people control it. They want rampaging bull on command like I'm in the circus."

Some kind of weird dune buggy zoomed by, almost clipping them. Carly honked at the idiot.

"I know what you mean. My 'organization' has plans for me, although they won't let me in on them. I won't have any choice in the matter, either. I've pledged my life or something."

They exchanged a look. Carly was about to ask what the heck they should do now when a red and blue blur landed on the hood with a thud. Carly slammed the brakes in a screech and the man in some kind of spider costume nearly tumbled off into the street. Acrid smoke curled off the tires.

The intruder yelled something unintelligible.

"What?"

Next to her, Lance was fuming, his face red, steam coming from his nostrils. "Carly, it's happening," he said in a rumble. "Do something."

Carly kicked her door open, rolled out, and leveled a gun at the spider-dude. Before she could do anything, threads shot from his wrist, snagged the gun, and yanked it away. She went for her knives but more of the threads snagged her fingers and glued them to her dress.

The invader yelled something while pointing at Lance. "Rlbs te gobzon no!"

"What?"

The masked man yanked off his spider mask. Damn if it wasn't the boy from the next booth of the Science Fair, Peter something with the icky spiders. What the heck? Was he some kind of agent, spying on her?

"God, I hate this thing," he said. "I said, 'release the Governor's son, right now.' There."

Carly struggled against the web that held her hands together. If she pulled to hard, she would rip off her entire dress. Curses! She glanced into the car. Lance sat there, fighting the change, fists clenched, eyes red, forehead throbbing.

"Trust me, you don't want me to release him."

Spider dude walked to the side of the car. "Whatevs. Come on, kid, out. I'm here to rescue you from Tomato Girl." He opened the door and Lance burst out.

Too late. Lance bellowed like a bull. Horns sprung from his head. His nose grew long, his arms formed hooves, and his increasing bulk ripped away his clothes. Thick hair erupted all over.

A full-sized bull, Lance pawed the ground, grunting and steaming, eyes on Peter. He bellowed and charged. Peter yelped, stuck his hand up, webbed a high branch, and slung himself into a nearby tree.

Bull-Lance stopped, growled at the man, and charged the base of the tree. He slammed it full-on, shaking the trunk with a THUD, but Peter stayed put.

"Holy cow," yelled Spider dude. "It's Bull-Hulk."

"That's what you get for messing with him," called Carly.

At the sound of her voice, Bull-Lance whipped around at her, eyeing her with bovine hate. The hooves pawed the ground, and the body squatted.

"Little help here," called Carly, arms still immobilized.

"That's what _you_ get for kidnapping him," Spider-puss yelled back.

"I didn't kidnap him. He jumped in the car all by himself!"

Bull-Lance charged. Carly put the car between them, struggling to free her hands. "Come on, Peter, let me defend myself." Lance trotted past the car, but then Carly realized that if she kept this up, he'd overturn Mom's car…right on top of her. "Curses."

She had to do it. Carly ripped her hands free, tearing off her dress in the process, and the used her legs to force the threads off her hands using super-strength, ripping her skin and practically breaking her thumbs. She tossed her gooey dress away.

"Holy scrape!" yelled Peter. "Don't see that every day."

Carly rubbed her bleeding wrists, willing them to heal. She stood there in a bra and panties while Bull-Lance eyed her. He charged. This time as he dove to ram her, she jumped high, snagged some locks on his head, and slammed onto his back.

Now he was really incensed, bucking and stomping. He threw Carly off and she landed hard, almost breaking an ankle and getting a butt full of gravel scrapes for her trouble.

"Whoo!" yelled Peter from his safe tree. "Ride 'em Cowgirl!"

Carly was going to crush that spider once this was all over. "How about some help, superhero?"

"Hey, this is your mess. You stole him, he's your problem now."

"I just need to get on his back and stay on. Can you at least help with that?"

Peter sighed. "Sure. Just get him under me, and when you get on, I'll web you on tight. This should be good."

Carly ran under Peter's tree. "Come on, Lance, over here."

Bull-Lance still tromped in a circle, steaming and stomping, gouging the ground with his horns. He eyed some distant cars passing by and growled. She could not have him run out in traffic.

"Lance! Here!" Carly found a rock and tossed it at Lance, hitting him in the shoulder.

Bull was not happy. He turned to her, eyes now red slits. His hooves dug up large quantities of dirt. Carly suddenly thought of a Bugs Bunny episode, except this bull would gore more than celluloid film.

"You sure about this?" called Peter.

Bull-Lance charged like a runaway freight train. Carly tensed, ready to spring. Lance stampeded with all the power of a locomotive, half sounding like one. She suddenly thought better of the plan. As Lance arrived, head lowered to gore her, Carly jumped again, this time with Peter casting his web all over her and Lance, bonding her to his back.

Lance practically screamed in frustration, bucking and twisting and kicking. As long as he didn't roll onto his back, she'd be fine. She struggled up to his ear. "Lance, ssh. Ssh. Come on, Lance, calm, quiet."

Lance stopped bucking but he snorted angrily.

"Come on, Lance. Nice Lancey. Good boy." She kissed him behind his ear.

Like Jell-O in the microwave, Lance began to melt under her. The hair receded, the horns got sucked in, the hooves became hands and feet. He became human again, naked. He turned over, saw Carly above him, and pulled her lips to his.

They kissed, tied together by Peter's web. Lance rolled them over so he was on top of her, naked, she almost. His hands found her shoulders, her back, fumbled with her bra.

"Oh, come on, guys. Ew! This is not right."

Carly reached past Lance to the tree and forced it to grow, encasing Peter in a web of branches and leaves. Then she grew the grass around them six feet high, creating an impenetrable barrier. All she wanted to do was feel Lance's flesh against hers, feel his lips travel down her neck and shoulders, drink in his power.

"Hey," cried Peter. "This isn't fair. Let me out of here."

Lance looked down at her, eyes wide, body tense.

"Don't stop, please." Her hand caressed his face.

"Hello?" yelled Peter.

"I don't want to stop," said Lance.

"Then don't." She wanted him so bad, and she could tell the feeling was mutual. She pulled up to him, kissed his lips, pressed her body against his. He responded, but then pulled away again.

"I—I can't."

"Why?" Her body ached in ways she'd never felt before, hot and shaky with blood rushing everywhere.

Lance looked away for a second. "Because…I don't know what you are."

Carly gasped. "What?"

"They say you're a Hydra agent. How can I trust you?"

Carly suddenly felt super-undressed. "You jumped into my car. Why would you if you felt that way?"

"I just…" Lance closed his eyes. "I thought maybe you could help, but…"

"But what?" Anger and shame and desire all mixed together, sending her head spinning. What kind of game was Lance playing?

"Maybe you're just trying to recruit me."

Carly couldn't believe the emotions surging through her. Did he just call her something vile? She couldn't help it. She slapped his face, hard, with a bit of super strength.

"I just stopped you from a rampage. You could have gone onto that highway over there and seriously hurt people. And you think I'm playing with you, that this is some kind of game to me? Up yours, Conrad. Get some damn clothes on."

Carly yanked off the remaining web, scooted away, and turned from him.

"Carly, I—"

"Save it."

His hand lay on her shoulder, warm. She tensed but didn't pull away. "I just want to know that this thing between us is real, not some kind of Hydra plot to get to my dad or something."

Carly turned to him, fighting tears. "It's real, okay? I'm here with you, without any backup. If this was a plot, Peter wouldn't have been able to waylay us so easily. We'd already be in a safe house or something. This is all me, not Hydra, not anything. They didn't even know about the Science Fair."

"So…you're essentially defying Hydra to be with me…"

She put a hand on his shoulder, touched his face where she had struck him, tried to smile, tried to control her frothing emotions. "I'm here for you, and only for you."

"You guys are making me sick," yelled Peter. "I get it. You're in mushy love. I shouldn't interfere blah blah. Seriously, I need to pee. Can I get down already?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: Just a short one here. More coming soon.

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**Chapter Four**

After Peter took off, they got themselves clothed and back in Mom's car. Peter had snatched some duds off a nearby clothesline so they had something to wear, t-shirts and ill-fitting jeans. Collected a couple bills for the owners for his thievery.

"Where to?" she asked, turning the car on with a roar.

Lance shrugged. "Just not home, okay? Anywhere."

Carly glanced at him. At least he wasn't running away from her. He didn't really look at her either, more like at his knees. Carly put the car in gear and headed out, watching for any tails. The sun dropped low and she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. All that corralling of Lance left her stomach rumbly.

"Hey, I have an idea. I can prove to you that I'm on your side, that isn't some plot."

"Carly you don't—"

"Yes I do, apparently." His distrust of her still left ice wandering her veins, not a good feeling for someone with evil powers that ached almost as bad as her desires. She felt around her purse, her fingers closing on the card that Dr. Beast had given her. It had an address. She handed it to him. "There's someone here who might be able to help."

"New York? That's like an eight hour drive from here. Wouldn't it just be easier to call the number?"

Carly gripped the wheel. "Do you not want to ride with me? Say the word and I'll drop you off."

"No! Give me a minute here. My head's all crazy right now. You know they're going to be looking for me, and they're going to know it was you. This time they're going to be really pissed. APB's and everything."

"So you'd rather go through life as a rampaging bull? Or worse—they'll lock you up and turn you into their tool. Goodbye anything you've ever dreamed of."

"Come on, Carly. You think I don't know that? Besides, they've pretty much done that already." Lance's face hardened as he stared at the road slipping by, lips in a tight scrunch.

Carly tried a light touch on his leg with her fingertips. "Then let me help you figure this out. I swear it's just me here, no other motivation. You don't have to live like this. You're not the first one with this kind of condition."

Lance shrugged. "Whatever." He scooted his leg away.

Carly clamped her mouth as well. Lance wasn't going to make this easy. They drove into the gathering night in uncomfortable silence.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: Wild Flower has a devastating power that's almost Biblical in nature. Not even super-fast Quicksilver can escape it...

Again thanks for the follows and reviews!

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**Chapter Five**

They ate greasy drive-thru fast food and avoided public rest stops that might be monitored. Carly suspected that once the authorities figured they weren't in Virginia, they might bring in the Feds to expand the dragnet. After all, kidnapping across state lines was a federal crime. Not that she was kidnapping Lance, but they could always spin it that way. There would definitely be a BOLO out for this car. She should ditch it and steal another, but Mom would probably freak.

She put in a quick call to fellow agent Larry's phone service. Yeah, he was busy in Quantico with all his training, but maybe he could help. Better than Mom, who would yell at her for going off-book, especially for involving a boy. Well, Mom would have to suck it. Agents did what agents needed to do. Sort of.

Somehow, they got through it all, tollbooths, exits, streets, without any obvious signs of pursuit, so either the authorities were looking in the wrong place or were laying off for some reason. Her guess was that she was being tailed through a drone or satellite, waiting to see where she'd end up. They probably had found Spider-boy already and were questioning him. She had a little bit of rope. Still, strange that they wouldn't intercept.

Sometime after midnight, they rolled down a long, narrow road. Moonlight flickered through high tree branches. Nice, dense vegetation. Carly poked Lance who had nodded off after gorging on a double cheeseburger, mondo fries, and like a gallon of soda.

"Huh?" He wiped his mouth.

"We're here, I think." They arrived at a closed gate. A plaque with an inscription read, 'Xavier's School for the Gifted.'

"Who's Xavier?" asked Lance.

"I don't know. Maybe this is the wrong place. I thought we were looking for a lab or something." Carly messed with Maps on her phone. "I don't see anything else for miles around."

"It's like 1am. Maybe we should find a place to crash. There's no one here."

Carly shook her head. "If we do that, we're as good as captured. Unless you want to sleep in a dumpster somewhere."

She entered the name 'Xavier' on her secret spy app. "It says here that this place is like a boarding school. I think this McCoy guy might be a professor or something. Xavier runs the show."

"Okay, but if no one answers, we're outta here."

Carly pulled up to a little unmanned kiosk with some kind of intercom. She pushed the button. "Hello?"

A boy stood outside the car and spoke in a weird, low voice. "You rang?"

"Uh?" Carly looked around. Where did he come from?

He spoke normally. "Nevermind, it's a thing I do. Highway's back that way, just keep to the left."

"We're not lost." Carly handed the boy a card.

He looked at it for a second then flipped it away into the night. "Sorry, we're closed." He disappeared.

"What kind of a place is this?" Lance looked agitated. Last thing she needed was him going all Bull again.

Carly put a hand on his leg, firm this time. "Shh, Lance. It's fine." She reached out and pushed the button, this time not letting go for a good ten seconds.

"What?" The boy appeared again in a whoosh of air. Carly realized he wasn't actually materializing, he was just super-fast. "People are trying to sleep."

"We're not leaving until we see either Dr. McCoy or Raven."

"Raven? Who's Raven? Oh. Mystique. Good luck with that." He whooshed away.

Carly glanced at Lance who looked ready to destroy something. Carly pushed the button again and again, and then started pounding on the intercom with her fist.

"Hey!" The boy appeared again. "You're trespassing on private property. You've got two minutes to—"

"Quicksilver!" yelled the dented intercom. "Let them in!"

Quicksilver sighed. "Fine." He disappeared and the gate eased open with creaks and groans. Carly started the car, and suddenly, with a thump, Quicksilver was in the back seat, somehow rearranging Carly's science project in a split second to give him room.

"What the heck is all this?" he asked.

Carly put a calming hand back on Lance. "It's my science project. Please don't disturb it."

"Tomatoes?"

"Yes. I grow tomatoes."

"So what are your names? Where are you from? Why are you here so late? Are you in trouble?"

"My name is…" she thought better of using her real name. After all, the kid didn't use his. "Wild Flower. And this is Bull Boy."

"Bull Boy?" Lance looked at her. "Last time it was Beef Boy."

"Are you sure it's not Mrs. Tomato Head?" asked Quicksilver, looking at the pots.

"Wild Flower." At some point she needed to make her alias stick. She guided the car through manicured gardens.

"So, 'Wild Flower', what can you do?"

"I can destroy the world. You have any talents?"

Lance's hand was in Carly's pants—his fingers pretty much in her privates. He yanked it out. Carly slammed the brakes. Quicksilver laughed in the back as Lance took a futile swing at him. Quicksilver ducked and laughed, superhuman speed frustrating Lance.

Carly thought furiously…her power, there had to be something she could use against this runt. Something even his speed couldn't escape, but nothing too dangerous. She turned around and glared at the giggling boy, at pimped-up hair, his slick leather jacket, his pimpled little face—there. That was it.

Carly extended a hand toward him, sensing his life-essence through her fingertips. "Are you sure you want to mess with me?"

"Do your worst. I'm pretty sure I can evade whatever useless power you have, Tomato-head. Ha ha."

Focus. On the pimples. The bacteria. Grow. Just a little, just enough to feel…

Quicksilver grabbed his face. "What are you doing? Stop it!"

Pink and red bumps covered his face, a couple oozing white. "Stop!"

And ZING he was gone.

"Now that's a trick," said Lance. "I wouldn't want to be that guy. Hey, sorry about my hand. It was weird. I could kind of feel him doing it, but I couldn't stop him. Are you okay?"

Carly huffed. "Yeah." She turned away.

"What?"

"Nothing." Lance didn't get it. That Quicksilver jerk had basically molested her. Heck, he could have taken off her clothes and done whatever he wanted in milliseconds, and she'd be powerless to stop him. She suddenly didn't want to check this school out anymore if that ass would be there.

Lance must have sensed something because he pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. Carly leaned into him, inhaling his scent, like a green field on a summer day. She liked having his warm arm around her. She put a hand against his chest, felt his heart beating. A sudden urge to run away gripped her, escape this life of espionage and intrigue, go somewhere where neither of them would have to deal with their powers, just live normal lives.

"What's wrong?"

Carly fought back a tear that had crept from her eye. "Nothing. I'll be fine. It's been a long day."

"You sure you want to do this now?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**: Here's a little parable I think everyone should follow in life (with apologies to Jim Croce tho I think he'd agree):

You don't tug on Superman's cape;  
You don't spit into the wind;  
You don't tug the mask off the ole Lone Ranger;  
And you don't mess around with Wolverine.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

A white-haired lady answered the door. The mansion stretched out in both directions, disappearing into the night.

"Hi," said Carly, peering beyond the woman at the lavish interior with fluffy chairs and intricate woodworking. "We're here to see Raven or Dr. McCoy. I had a card, but I dropped it outside the gate. I hope that's okay. I can go back and try to find it—"

"No, no, that's fine." The lady yawned. "Come in, have a seat over there. We didn't expect you so soon, or with a guest."

_Expect?_ "Actually I'm here for him. I'm his ride."

The woman blinked like distant thunder, smelled like fresh rain. "Oh. Okay. I was misinformed. Please, we're a little disorganized at this hour." She shuffled off, stifling another yawn.

Carly sat next to Lance on a long bench, but then rose again. The women didn't even ask for their names. She must already know. Carly walked around. The wood-paneled walls held class pictures by each year. They looked like any class picture, except for all the strange-looking people, blue-heads, no-heads, floaters, flyers, distorted, invisible (someone had photoshopped an outline), wings, glasses. One of the old pictures from the 60's had the girl Raven from this morning…but how could that be possible? And the woman with white hair was a girl with white hair in one of them. And then there was a dude with razor talons coming out of his hands who looked ready to jump out of the picture and slash her. Carly reached out to the image, the famous—

"That's not my best side," spoke a deep voice next to her.

Carly turned quickly. It was _him_—the man from the picture. No talons, though. Sideburns, untamed hair, muscles harder than trees, anger oozing out of his pores. "Oh, hi, Mr…Wolverine?"

"Logan. Just call me Logan. And you are?"

Where the heck had she heard him called that? "Um…Wild Flower. And this is Bull Boy." Lance waved.

"Wild Flower. Bull Boy. Already sporting hero names, eh?"

Carly remembered where she'd heard the name 'Logan'. Yeah, they knew someone in common. "Oh, your friend Bucky says hi." Oh no—that wasn't it. Bucky _hates_ Wolverine. "I mean—"

Too late. The giant faced her. "What did you say? You know that bastard Winter Soldier? Do you know what that man cost me?"

Logan made a fist but the talons stayed put. Damn her mouth! "I meant to say that he…um…I mean, I didn't mean to say anything!"

Wolverine looked ready to gash Carly to pieces. Five minutes and she'd already made an enemy.

"Logan! Stand down." Raven rushed down the hall.

Logan pointed at Carly's nose. "Who is this? What the hell are we dragging into this place nowadays?"

Raven held out her hands for calm but Logan was practically nose-to-nose with Carly.

"Leave her alone!" Lance jumped in between Carly and Logan, breathing heavily.

Carly had to grab Lance, wrap her fingers across his chest, put her lips to his ears before he went cow-wild. "Ssh. I'm good. Just relax." The raging bull inside him calmed.

Logan looked between the two of them, then turned away and stomped down the hall.

Raven approached. "What did you say to him?"

"I just accidentally mentioned the Winter Soldier and he went nuts."

Raven smiled just a touch. "Yeah. Pretty sore subject. After all, Bucky Barnes killed Logan's wife."

Carly gasped. "It must have been back when he was controlled; he would never do that now."

Raven's small smile remained. "You'd be surprised by what people do. Come, I have a more private place for you to wait while your rooms are prepared."

"Rooms? We can't stay. We've got to get back home soon."

Same smile. "It's almost 2am. We might be superhuman but we need sleep just as much as anyone. And you must be exhausted." Raven led them down the hall and into a library of sorts, lined with books and dark computer monitors and huge leather chairs and couches.

Carly had to admit she was bone tired. She found a comfy couch and dropped into it. Good a place to crash as any.

"This way," Raven said to Lance. "You're room is ready."

Lance turned to follow Raven. Carly's heart grew cold. He didn't even look back. Did today mean nothing to him?

"Over there?" he asked Raven. "Okay. Give me one sec." He turned back and closed the door, leaving him alone with Carly. "You gonna be okay?"

Relief flooded her. She nodded, and then jumped into his arms, kissed his lips and neck. "Promise you won't go bull without me, okay?"

"Okay. I think I'm just going straight to sleep." He gave her a big hug, lifting her off her feet.

"Okay. Sleep good." She broke the embrace and gave him a silly little wave. Lance nodded and headed out to follow Raven.

Carly slumped back onto the couch. Thoughts about Lance swirled through her head, about his arms, his smile, his touch, his kisses full of passion and desire. Maybe they could stay here, away from Hydra and his father the Governor and everyone who wanted to keep them apart. Their love—if that's what it was—and she dared not even think it—was pure and genuine, two powerful souls who'd found each other. If they could just get away from all this fighting and evil and everything…

A thought struck her. None of this mattered unless she could free her dad. Until that time, she'd enjoy these moments, but that's all they could be.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N**: Still with me? Post a review!  
I'm having a lot of fun with this. It's never a good idea to host an evil power inside of you...

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Motion, in the room. Carly whipped awake, jumped out of the couch, and brandished the knife she always strapped to her leg. An old man sat in a wheelchair, bald and shriveled.

"How did you get in here?" she demanded, seeing the door still closed.

"I've been here the whole time. I simply chose not to allow you to see me until I was ready. Welcome to my school, Miss Carly Richards. Now sit, please, you have no need for that weapon. We have much to discuss." He motioned to the couch.

Carly backed off, alarms ringing in her head. Not sure she could trust Mr. Ancient. "Discuss?"

"Yes, I am Professor Charles Xavier and—"

"Listen. I'm just here for Lance. I don't want any funny business."

The old coot smiled. "Ah, yes. 'Funny business.' Like the stunt you pulled on Hank with the tomato?"

Carly gripped her knife. She didn't like surprises, and she was no friend to these people. "What about it?"

"Impressive feat. Come, sit, let's chat about it. I must say I'm quite intrigued with—"

Carly edged toward the door. "If it's all the same, I'd rather just leave. Do what you can for Lance. I'll come pick him up when he's ready."

The solicitous smile left the man's face. "Yes. I see. You are no amateur. At the same time, Hank reported a distinct request for assistance in your demonstration. Now, Miss Richards—"

"_Wild Flower_."

"Of course. Wild Flower. Let's stop talking in circles. We know who you are. You represent an organization we thought long vanquished, yet has managed to rise again. And you find yourself, a powerful person in your own right, a pawn in their schemes."

Carly snorted. "Stop right there. I'm not some poor girl trapped by some hideous plot. I am Hydra, just as you are a man in a wheelchair. It's in my blood, my soul." She was The Hydra, whatever demon that was, lurking deep inside.

The room grew dark, but no one had turned off the lights. Carly could only see herself and Professor Xavier.

"What are you doing?" She waved her knife as shivers crept down her spine.

"I'm opening a portal between us, a portal of the mind."

Oh, curses. No one should go spelunking around her mind. Heck, she didn't even know half the stuff in there. "No. Back off! You don't know what you're doing." She brandished the knife, but as it rose, it turned around, and found its way to her neck, pressing sharp against her neck. "Stop it!"

Xavier's words were mesmerizing. "No, we shall explore what's here."

Flowers appeared before her, huge, towering, sparkling with color. She couldn't move the knife from her throat, her limbs powerless.

"Your power," he said. "I wonder what it is? Not mutant power, that is certain, or we would have found you years ago. Some other form. Something not found in nature, yet of nature."

As he spoke, Carly felt it, dark, swirling, stirring the flowers surrounding them. The flowers grew dark, melting into black decay. "You don't want to do this," she warned, not even knowing what they faced, but it was not something they should ever mess with. Like old nitroglycerin.

Old Man Xavier's mind probe was a far worse violation that what Quicksilver had done as the tendrils of his mind sifted through hers, and she was just a powerless to stop the probing. Rage gathered at the roots of her being, stirring a pot best left undisturbed.

The knife pressed harder. "I heard a rumor long ago of an experiment, to give a subject the power of a hydra, to grow a new head. I wonder. What would happen if we cut off yours?"

Carly dared not draw on the power that swirled around her like a black ocean, but like the tide, it came anyways. "I don't know, but whatever I become, it would be more evil than you could ever imagine, more powerful than anything you could hope to destroy." She could feel the Hydra, inside, ready to take her place, waiting for Carly's death, wanting that knife to strike her down.

_No_.

Was that what she was? A ticking time bomb, waiting for someone to trigger her? To kill her? Whatever she became, she wouldn't be Carly anymore. She'd be a monster, intent on destroying the world.

Energy swirled around her as she willed the knife away. It was her power, fighting the Professor's, beating him back. Books and papers flew around the room in a tornado that Storm would be proud of. Carly fought to draw it back, put it back inside, just like Lance fought to keep the wild bull at bay, but this power was far beyond an animal's, far beyond a mutant's, perhaps beyond a God's. The tornado roared, throwing books and papers and chairs and chunks of ceiling in a maelstrom of rage. The Professor toppled out of his chair and slammed the far wall while the chair flew up against the window. Carly fought to swallow the power, control it, contain it, subdue it, but it danced out of her grasp, fighting to be let loose against the Professor and destroy him.

A piercing pain burst from her stomach. Carly gasped, her power rushing back inside, fighting the intrusion, but the talons were Adamantium, spiking from the right fist of Wolverine.

"Logan, what have you done?" cried the Professor.

Wolverine yanked out the talons, and Carly sank to the floor, her stomach crying in pain, her power busying itself with self-repair. He jumped to the Professor's side, righting his wheelchair and helping the man back up.

"She was attacking you," he said. "She's a Hydra agent. She's working with the Winter Soldier."

"You fool. We almost had a breakthrough. Now go get her some help. Hurry!"

Wolverine ran out of the room.

Carly sat in a daze as her blood doused her stolen pants and leaked onto the floor. The room spun, she couldn't focus, but down there, below the cuts that almost tore her in half, a rage circled, a deep blackness, an evil waiting to be spawned upon the earth. She would destroy this place and all within. She would lay waste to the countryside, see New York crumble, become queen of the world. The knife still lay across her fingers. All she had to do is draw it across her throat, and the world would be hers.

"Fight it," said the Professor, pulling himself back into his chair. "Be Carly Richards. Be Wild Flower. Fight the Hydra."

Carly? What a weak girl, driven by girlish hopes and fears. She should be the leader of Hydra, not a minor lackey. Men should crawl to her, women bow before her. One slice, and her true self would emerge, a magnificent and terrible goddess of darkness, sowing despair throughout the universe.

_No. I am not the Hydra. Not yet, at least._

Carly dropped the knife. Her stomach ached less and less by the second. She struggled to her feet, wobbly at first, but then strong, facing the Professor. "Don't _ever_ try that again. I might not be able to control it. I might not _want_ to."

Professor X held out a palm to her. "I'm so sorry about Logan. I assure you he will face consequences."

Carly looked around the trashed room, at the puddle of blood at her feet. "And what about _your_ consequences? You invaded my mind, triggered a thing that should not be disturbed. I did not ask for your help. I warned you."

The Professor wheeled closer. "You had to see. You had so little knowledge of what lay within, and I did what I could to give you a better glimpse. You have a right to know. And you did ask for help, not directly, but through Hank."

His logic was porous at best. "And now that you've seen just a glimpse? Do you lock me up? I don't think it would be wise to try. I'm pretty pissed about all this. I came here to help my friend and all I get is probed and stabbed. The hospitality of this place is less than awesome." Carly had half a mind to walk outside and turn all their carefully manicured landscaping into an impenetrable tangle. But he had a point. She'd seen more of what lay inside, come close to releasing it. If Wolverine hadn't intervened…

"No, of course not. You're free to leave anytime. I assure you there will be no other tests without your full consent and under controlled conditions. Why don't you at least stay the night? We'll replace your clothes for you of course, and whatever compensation you might require for your stay here. Please, we want to help. We just want you to know yourself."

Carly eyed the coot. He seemed somewhat sincere.

"And no more funny business?"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: The long-awaited Chapter Eight.

I don't know how much longer Carly's going to let these guys push her around...even if they are the X-Men...an Agent of Hydra should be a little tougher...

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Carly shuddered and shivered as Raven led her through the sprawling mansion, reliving the experience. She should run from these weirdos, but they could have answers. She wasn't sure she'd be willing to be stabbed again. She might have to do something seriously dangerous before these people would respect her. She didn't want to be one of those crazy 'everyone bow to me' villains, but she didn't want them to think she was some kind of pushover. They need to take Hydra seriously.

Raven went through a procedure to unlock one of the doors, throwing bolts open. Doors were lockable from the outside? That wasn't ominous. Carly backed away. "So am I like a prisoner now?"

"Not exactly. Best you stay the night, though. Don't worry, all the dorm rooms are like this, sealable from both sides. Some of our students have…boundary issues."

"I'll say. Some of your staff as well."

Raven eyed her without responding. "If you need assistance, please use the intercom. We've put some clothes on the bed for you. Please don't disturb Kitty, but feel free to use the bathing facilities. Put your stained clothes in this bag for disposal."

Raven handed Carly a bag for her bloody clothes.

"Tomorrow, should you choose to stay and investigate our facility, we will arrange some appropriate meetings. Good evening, Miss Richards."

Raven left and locked the door. Carly looked around what seemed like an ordinary dorm room: two beds, two desks, a couple closets, and a door to a private bathroom. Sigh. A figure lay in one of the beds, sort of half-under the covers. No—the covers kind of went _through_ her, as if the girl was made of air. Carly kept an eye on the girl who floated up and down, almost sinking through her mattress, and then hovering above her bed. Whoa.

Carly hit the shower, turning it on to extreme heat, rubbing off every inch of grime. She still had three pink marks on her belly where the talons had carved her. When she touched them, a rage sprang up, a desire to seek out Wolverine and strangle him in his sleep, but she tossed her head. Overt action right now would ruin things for Lance, but if there was any way for some payback, her urges might not be deniable. Then again, with their intrusive methods, she wondered how much they could really help Lance without enraging him to the point where he tore up the place.

After her shower, before hitting bed, she sent some encrypted texts to certain drop boxes. All she needed to post was that she wasn't in immediate danger, but she was in hostile territory in an overt capacity, as a known agent. No exfiltration needed at the moment, situation holding. She waited a few minutes for a response, and received the standard "carry on" message. Which meant she was on her own for now.

Carly examined the stout doors and barred windows, no obvious egress. She had a bag in the car with explosive tape and putty, but that did her little good now. So with nothing left to do, she lay down in the bed, and in moments was fast asleep.

#

Carly rubbed her eyes and pulled her covers up against the harsh daylight.

"So, you're actually alive," came a voice.

Carly peeked out at Kitty, glared her best evil glare, and tucked the covers back over.

"Aww. It's okay. I never even heard you come in."

Carly looked out again. Kitty pulled on some socks. She seemed about Carly's age, and sat on a chair.

Kitty must have sensed Carly's question. "It's a lot easier when I'm awake. Clothes, makeup, it all kind of falls off when I don't focus."

Carly smelled a whiff of something nice and looked up. On a table next to her desk stood a vase of fresh flowers. She sat up and looked at the note, wondering how Lance pulled this off. What a sweetie!

"I am humbly sorry for my actions. I know this in no small way makes up for it, but please enjoy. Logan." _Logan_?

"For what it's worth, he did seem sorry," said Kitty.

Carly frowned. Cheap flowers for a murder attempt? But no—these weren't cheap. Carly worked for a florist. Judging from the rare, out-of-season blooms, this must have cost hundreds—and it had only been hours. She inhaled their perfume.

Carly reached out to the bouquet. "Do you want to see something? What do you do when someone you don't like gives you flowers?"

"Um…toss them?"

Power flowed from Carly's fingertips. The blooms redoubled in size, pouring out of the vase, over the table, and onto the floor.

"Ooh," said Kitty. "Nice."

"I said from someone you _don't like_."

The power kept flowing, the blooms twisted and fought, strangling over each other, turned black, rotted, and liquefied into sticky, stinky goo."

Kitty looked at Carly with wide eyes. "You definitely have a dark side."

Carly nodded, and extended her hand. "Name's Wild Flower."

Kitty looked at it, looked at the dead flowers, and hesitated.

"What's the matter?"

"Why are you here? I thought you were a prospective student."

Carly shook her head. "Right. No, I've already had my training. This isn't the only facility that caters to youths with…abilities. The one I went to was pretty cutthroat though. I just go to regular high school now. I'm actually here for my friend."

Kitty eyed the wreckage of the plant. "And what can your friend do?"

Carly smiled. "He's a really great kisser."

Kitty blinked, and then grinned. "Wait. A boyfriend?"

Carly shrugged. "I mean, it's not official. We haven't even had a real date. It's really hard. I mean, I want him to be, but it's not really possible."

"Okay…" Kitty extended her hand, and they shook. "Kitty Pryde. Also known as Shadowcat."

"And I go by Carly Richards. Wild Flower. So, you like it here, locked in your room?"

"Oh, I'm not locked in. Not really possible for me. But yeah, here, I get to be me. I don't get treated like a freak. I get to explore my abilities in a safe environment."

"Without being skewered by Wolverine?" Carly touched her belly.

Kitty looked away for a second. "I heard. Everyone has a run-in with Logan sooner or later. It's why's he's here, to learn to control those impulses. He's been through more than most of us. I owe my life to him, so I can't really say much more than that except I think those flowers were genuine."

Carly glanced at the ruin of the bouquet. "He's lucky that it was just a stab wound."

"Listen, they left an itinerary for you. You're free to attend an orientation or not." Kitty handed Carly a sheet of paper. It listed times, rooms, and various people.

"Ooh, breakfast at 9. What time is it now?" Her stomach rumbled.

"10:30."

Carly crumbled the piece of paper and tossed it on the floor. Who was she kidding? This was not her place, would never be. She'd never be some kind of valiant defender. She would never go out and save the world. Her destiny was to conquer the world and destroy it in the process if she had to. She wasn't even a true mutant like these folks; she was concocted in a lab or imbued by some magical/scientific process.

"Sorry, I should just take off. It's been fun and everything. I'll pick up Lance when he's ready." Carly rose.

Kitty rose as well and held out a hand. "Just hold on a sec. The people on that sheet mean well, and there's no harm in just looking around, is there? Just a couple hours?"

"And risk getting skewered or brain-probed again?" Then again, she might gather some important intelligence about the operation here. A little spying, learn their weaknesses. "Fine. But breakfast first."

"I'll go check. Just hang out for a little bit."

Kitty got up and walked through the door, clothes and all.

What Hydra wouldn't do for someone with those abilities…but Carly wasn't here for Hydra. Still, wouldn't hurt to be on friendly terms with this Shadowcat person.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N**: I wonder how many of us have that "rage monster" inside of us. That silent, simmering demon that just waits for an excuse to come out and slay our enemies.

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Carly sat and waited for about three seconds before she was up and trying to figure out how to escape this room/jail. She'd just about had it with Xavier's hospitality. The door was solid, the windows barred, and the vents too small for a crawl. Her super-ish strength was useless in a room designed to contain creatures far more powerful. Minutes stretched on, no word from Kitty or anyone else. No one even answered the intercom even though she buzzed it like a million times. She'd hate to call in an exfiltration just because she was stuck in a dorm room.

"Bah." Carly eyed the bouquet she had terminated, wishing she could revive the stalks. Once she'd run her power through them, they were lifeless shells, no chance to restore them. She sat on the bed and stared at her hands for the billionth time. Forced isolation let her mind crawl with thoughts. What exactly was she? What was the true nature of her power? Xavier had helped reveal some things, that a monster lay inside of her, dormant. Waiting. Another Carly full of rage and destruction.

What if she couldn't control it?

_What if she didn't want to?_

That was the hardest thought of all: that she liked using the power. It made her glow with energy and a kind of thrill. It was a drug. Even now, she yearned to go out to a field and let the things around her grow into a forest until it was all burned, destroyed, a black mass of death. The more she used this power, the more she wanted to use it, and worse, the more of it she consumed, the more powerful she became.

So what would she become if she used too much?

Carly groaned and ran worried fingers through her hair. Where the heck was Kitty? Her stomach rumbled. Power or not, she still needed to eat. _Buzz buzz buzz_ on the intercom and nothing.

She forced herself to stop thinking about her power, and her mind fell on the other subject that dominated her thoughts: _Lance_. After spending that long ride with him, all she wanted to do was to crawl up into his lap and have him wrap her in his arms. Yeah, she might be a super villain with unearthly powers, but she missed be close to people. She needed this. After Dad apparently died (except he didn't), Mom was all closed off. Now that her previous-best-friend Becky had turned against her, Carly had no one. Why did the world conspire to keep the things she wanted out of her grasp? Lance and her dad, both locked away from her. It wasn't fair.

She jumped off the bed and pounded on the door. "Hello? Can someone let me out of here? Come on!"

Nothing. Maybe now it was time for exfiltration. Let's see how these creepy mutants do against the full power of Hydra. Carly grabbed her phone. All she had to do was punch in some codes and the sky would fill with hover-gunships. _No_. She wasn't in mortal danger, not yet at least. Hydra would lose a lot rescuing her, and they'd be pretty pissed. No, she'd have to figure this one out herself.

Carly flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, chewing on her nails. A nervous worry grew, imagining they might be building a torture chamber for her so they could extract Hydra's secrets. Isolate her from any living material so she couldn't use her power, and they'd have her. She should have run, should never have come here, should have destroyed Xavier when she had a chance…

_Nah_, these didn't seem to want to go in that direction. More like they wanted to recruit her. That was their angle. They were just re-working their presentation since she had slept in so late—

A siren wailed, and some kind of red strobe flashed from above the door frame. Carly jumped up, keyed in a quick query on her phone. No immediate response.

Kitty jumped ghost-like through the solid door, pulling a shocked Lance through with her. "Stay here," she said to both of them. "You'll be safe." She jumped back through.

"Hey!" Carly pounded on the door then turned to Lance. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," said Lance, looking shaken. "Everyone's been running around like crazy the last few minutes, then they hit the alarm."

Carly kicked the door. "I need to get out of here. I need to find out what's going on." She checked her phone again. Still nothing. If it was an exfil, they would tell her, right? No, it was something else.

"Do you think we're in danger?"

"_Duh_. Listen, Lance. If something's got them all riled up, I need to escape. I need to know what's going on." Still nothing on the phone. No response to the intercom. Nothing. A terror stirred in her gut but she swallowed it. She wasn't a rage-monster like Lance. She could control it. Maybe.

Except Lance looked like he was crumbling, scared. Carly stepped to him, put her hand on his shoulder. "Look at me." Their eyes locked. "Everything will be okay." Suddenly he pulled her close in a hug. She put her head on his shoulder, felt him shiver. "What's going on? It's just an alarm."

"It's not that. It's—it's me. I don't want to go Bull again. I can feel it inside of me. I lose control, and I hurt people. And if I hurt someone here, they might lock me up. For good."

Carly reached up and kissed his lips. "You won't, I promise."

The room filled with the scream and roar of a jet passing close by outside. Lance's muscles tensed with fear. She held him tight, not sure if it was to comfort him or herself. "Ssh. We can make it through this."_ Maybe. He's not trained, he's not ready for this stuff_.

A gargle struck Lance's throat. "It's coming. I need to stop it. Please, don't let me change."

"Okay." Carly held him as shouts filtered through the walls, but her own panic began to well up. The darkness waited, ready to be released. If something was happening, she shouldn't be caught in here.

Her phone buzzed with a message: **Level 1-C Event. Investigate and Report.**

Carly swallowed. '1-C' meant some lunatic with super powers was running amok, causing civilian casualties. No wonder the X-Men were scrambling like a disturbed hornet's nest. "Lance, I _need_ to get out of here. I need your help. Please."

Lance shook his head. He must know what that means. "Don't ask me to do that."

"I don't have a choice. I'm needed out there. I won't let you hurt anyone, I promise."

Lance shook his head. "Find another way."

Carly slapped his face, hard. She hated doing it, but she needed Bull Boy's strength right now. They had to break out of this room. She had no other choice.

"Carly?! What are you doing?" Lance backed away, holding out his hands. "Stay away from me."

"We need to escape this room. They can't just lock us in here."

"No. Don't do this. I trusted you!"

Carly stepped toward him, hand ready to strike again. His eyes pleaded with hers.

"If you do this to me, I swear I will never see you again."

Carly stopped. She had to make a choice. Let her affections for Lance stay her hand, or fulfill her responsibility to Hydra. Let Lance down, or let her father down, the man who rotted in jail somewhere in the name of Hydra.

Yet if she struck Lance again, she'd be sealing the fate of their relationship. Lance was right, this is not something you can come back from.

"Please," he said in a near whisper.

Carly glanced out the window. She could just barely see the assembly area where the X-Men assembled in trucks and aircraft and other vehicles, ready to take on whatever threat the 1-C was.

The fist struck her square on the jaw, throwing her across the room, just like his father had struck her, the same power, the same pain piercing her skull. She glared back at Lance who held up his hands. The monster within her stirred, raged.

"_Damn_. I guess you don't knock out easy. I can see it in your face, Carly. I see what you're thinking. I will not become the Bull. You will not use me in your plans!"

Power surged inside Carly, relentless, unstoppable. She rose to her feet, raised a hand. "First of all, the name's _Wild Flower_. Second, you don't have a choice, not anymore. The moment you jumped in my car, you became an agent of Hydra, just like me. I can't stop being that any more than you can stop being the governor's son." Carly stepped to him. Lance backed away. "Now I brought you here to help you, but all that's happened is that I was probed, stabbed, imprisoned, and now beaten. And I've done _nothing_ to deserve _any_ of it. I brought you here to _help_ you. Now you're going to help me." She raised a fist. "I want the Bull!"

"No!" Lance backed away, slamming into the door. His face contorted as he fought the change.

Carly breathed for a moment, swallowing her power. She couldn't do this to Lance. She was just going to have to call for an exfil. "Okay, okay!" She held out her hands. "We'll find another way. Lance? _Lance? _Please don't change, I'm sorry—"

Too late. Horns burst from his head. His shirt ripped open, his pants split. His hands and feet turned to hooves, his nose into a snout. The Bull snorted and stomped, eyes full of bestial rage. He stampeded around, ripping apart the room with his horns, Carly only escaping be impaled by mere inches, tumbling and springing away. The Bull grunted and bellowed, stared at her with a red, hate-filled gaze.

The Bull charged straight at her. This time, Carly was ready. She grabbed his head, pulling back on his neck, choking him as he slammed walls and shelves. "_Listen to me_," she shouted in his ear. "If you don't do what I say, I will kill you."

The Bull bucked and tossed his head, but Carly kept up the pressure on his neck and throat, cutting off the blood and air. Bull thrashed around the room, nearly dislodging Carly, but she held on tight.

"Calm down. _Now_." She yanked at full strength, pulling his head back.

The Bull struggled impotently, but then stopped, falling on his front knees.

Carly spoke in his ear. She _had_ to get this situation under control. "Good. Now listen to me. I am Wild Flower. I am your master. If you understand and agree, shake your head." Hopefully Lance was still in there, somewhere.

Thankfully, the Bull nodded.

"I am about to release you. If you try to harm me again, I will destroy you. Do you understand?"

The Bull nodded again.

Carly carefully let him go and jumped off. The Bull scrambled away, head hung low, breathing heavy. His eyes no longer glared.

"Good." Carly stepped over the destruction of Kitty's room, laid a hand on his snout. He snorted, flapped his ears.

"What does master Wild Flower wish?" asked the Bull in a low guttural tone.

Good, he was still somewhat human under all the beef. Carly pointed to the door. "Bull, smash!"

Bull nodded and snorted, backed up, and then charged the door. He collided in an impact that rocked the room, but the door held. He stepped away dazed. Carly grabbed his head, feeding him her power, healing him, strengthening him. They _had_ to escape. "Again!"

The Bull backed up once more, pawed the ground, and charged. This time the door moved half an inch from its moorings. Bull spun in a circle, and then collapsed on the floor, the poor thing. Carly laid a hand on him, feeling the pain and damage radiating from his body. She got up and tried the door, but it still held despite the damage, even after being hit with the equivalent of a Mack truck. "Curses." She felt the Bull's hide again. All they needed was one more strike, and that door was sure to fail. Carly fed him just a bit more power, just to get him up again, just make him a teensy bit stronger. Any more and he'd be in danger. "Come on, one more time!"

The Bull nodded, collected himself, and charged. This time the door flew across the hall. Carly jumped on the Bull's back. "Let's go, to the assembly area."

Bull charged down the hall, Carly riding him like a cowboy.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**: Finally we get back to the origins of this story...S.H.I.E.L.D.!

You never know when they'll show up...

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

Out on the tarmac, a giant transport jet prepared to take off. Carly recognized the markings—S.H.I.E.L.D. They loaded some equipment onto back, then waved for the plane to go.

"Move! Move!"

Carly urged Bull to gallop across the tarmac, faster and faster, like a race car. Just as the ramp began to lift, they slowed and jumped in, evading the Corvette and military SUV inside and landing in a heap, the Bull gasping and slathering. Carly looked up at the clicks of rifles. She raised her hands.

A woman spoke from behind the line of riflemen. "You don't strike me as X-Men. In fact, I believe I've seen you before. Oh, yes. You're the one we've been looking for. Where is Lance Conrad? What have you done with him?"

Carly kept her hands up. The ramp closed behind her. She was surrounded, no escape, staring at the barrels of a dozen guns. She remembered the woman's name. Skye. "I can explain. _This_ is Lance Conrad. I was just bringing him in to the academy to see if they could help him. You can kind of see his condition."

The Bull struggled to his feet, wobbly, panting.

Skye pushed through the soldiers and walked down the stairs, not taking her eyes off Carly. "Why have you boarded this plane?"

"They left us locked in a room. We didn't know what was happening. We didn't feel safe."

Bull dropped to his knees.

"Lance!" The Bull started to melt, dissolving back into a naked man. He collapsed on the floor. "Lance!" Carly slowly moved to him, keeping her hands up. Lance coughed and looked with her with sorry eyes.

"Something's wrong," he said. He gargled, liquid.

Carly's heart seized. Was he hurt?

"Medic, stat," called Skye. She pointed at Carly. "Back off, Hydra."

Carly moved to the wall and let the med team take Lance, and suddenly she was alone, facing the forest of weapons aimed at her. The walls began to hum and vibrate as the plane's engines came to full power. She could fight, but what was the point?

Skye faced her. "You know anything about what's going on?"

"All I got was a threat notice. A rogue super, Level 1-C. My mission with Lance was completely off-book, I swear."

"So you don't deny you're associated with an organization that destroyed a good part of D.C.?"

Carly lowered her head. "I'm not going to admit to anything, but I'm here to offer my services. My personal services, not that of any organization. That's why we jumped aboard. I wanted to help the X-Men, but everyone had already left."

Skye smirked and shook her head. She was about to say something when she poked her ear. "Damn. Looks like your Level whatever-you-called-it is a real nuisance. Fine. You want to help? Then tell me everything you know. Cuff her."

Black-suited men approached, grabbed Carly from behind, and shoved her wrists into shackles. Nothing Carly couldn't escape from, but better they feel a sense of security around her. The plane began taxiing, and jumped into the sky. Skye led her to the control center where videos showed live feeds of the conflict. Guards forced Carly into a chair, pretty uncomfortable with her hands pinned behind her. Skye pointed to one screen. "Look. Here she is. Seems like she has the ability to control plants and animals. At first we thought it was you, until we heard you were safely locked up—well, we _thought_ you were safely locked up. She calls herself Wild Flower."

"What?" Carly couldn't believe what was onscreen. Some girl raised her hands, and an army of giant ants sprung out of the grass and charged soldiers who fired everything they had before they went down under the pincers. "Who the heck _is_ that?"

"You don't know?"

What the flip? Did this girl also have Carly's Hydra powers? She didn't know whether to be happy or upset that someone else shared the same evil power. Carly would have to contact someone at HQ to find out for sure, but not in front of everyone. She studied some close-ups of the girl's face. She looked so familiar. Had she been in Carly's special classes? Hard to tell, everyone wore masks the whole time.

"So how do you stop someone like that?" asked Skye.

Carly shook her head. "I have no idea. Reason with her?"

They tried firing rockets at her, but she just raised walls of woody stalks to deflect them, then launched giant birds and insects to repel the attackers. Nothing like a swarm of 10-foot mosquitoes to send you running.

"Oh, yeah, another thing. You might like this." Skye cued up some video and played it.

"My name is _Wild Flower_," said the girl. "I will not stop my attack until I am brought the body of Carly Richards."

"Still doesn't ring any bells for you?"

Carly shivered and slumped down into her seat. What the crap? This was a plot—about her. Probably concocted by Hydra. Why? Did they think she had betrayed them by talking to Xavier? Or was it something else? She looked again—there _was_ something familiar about the girl.

"Now how about you tell me what's really going on?"

"I don't know any more about it that you do. If she's one of ours, she's gone rogue. Random rampages through suburbs aren't really our thing. Where is this, anyways?"

"Richmond."

Carly gasped. Mom? Was Mom safe from this lunatic?

Carly watched the footage. The X-Men and other military tried to fend off the hordes of super-sized creatures with little effect.

"If it's Richmond, this is definitely about me. Why are they doing this to me?"

"You tell us. Why would someone send this monster after you? Is there something you need to tell us?"

Carly shook her head. None of this made sense. "I guess I should go down there and talk to her, find out what she wants."

Skye smiled in a weird way. "You just want to go down there and have a chat with someone who's held off the X-Men and ripped up half the countryside?"

Carly shrugged. "I guess. Do you have a better plan?"

Skye sighed. "Generally we don't give in to the demands of terrorists. Not a great precedent. But in this case…"

"I get it. Two problems go in, one problem comes out. It's a win for you. Nice."

This time Skye shrugged and looked innocent. "If you stop her, you'd be doing us a favor. That goes a long way."

"And what about my father? If I help you, then I want him freed."

Skye blinked. "Your father?"

"Yeah. You guys are holding him in some secret facility."

Skye eyed Carly and consulted her pad. She shook her head. "I can't find any record of him."

"Bullcrap. He was there. I saw him."

"Which location?"

"I don't know. I was taken there in secret, no visuals. Seemed like some kind of bunker. No one wore insignia."

Skye flipped a few screens and typed. "Nope. Nothing."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not! It might be above my clearance."

Carly looked around the expensive plane. "You're telling me you command this ship and you don't have clearance?"

Carly eyed the monitors that covered the destruction in Richmond, plus a few others that flipped through various images. On one of them, Dad appeared for a second. "What the crap? I just saw his picture go by."

Skye whipped her head to see which monitor Carly pointed at. She walked over, touched a few spots on the screen. "This one? This one?"

The pictures tumbled. "Stop! Yeah." There he was, just like she'd seen him a few months ago. "Now where is he?"

Skye turned to Carly, face full of emotion. "This man is a wanted fugitive. This is the man who tried to murder me, and almost did. We don't have him, Carly. Hydra does. How could you not know this? Now who's lying? What are you concocting? This whole thing—it's a plot to free you, isn't it?"

It was like the floor fell out from under Carly. She wasn't _lying_. She had been _lied to_. By her own father. The whole thing was a setup. For what? She glanced at the monitors where giant dogs and cats chased jeeps and tanks. For _this_. It was a test. Her final test. Defeat this thing they created, and she would be in. She would be in Hydra's inner circle. The moment she set foot in Xavier's school, this plan must have been triggered, to make sure she didn't leave the fold.

Skye probably figured it out at the same time. "You don't have to do this, Carly. You don't have to fight this thing. You don't have to be part of them. We're not the enemy. We can help you."

"I don't need help." No one seemed to get that. "You're the ones who need help." Giant birds chased helicopters. "And let's face it, I'm the only one who can defeat her. I think I'm _meant_ to defeat her." Although she had no idea how, and frankly, the idea of going up against someone with that much power was less than thrilling. Maybe she should just let S.H.I.E.L.D. take care of it.

Some woman ran into the room and spoke with a British accent. "You'd better come quick. The boy you brought in is dying."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N**: Only 2 more chapters after this...revelations coming fast and thick...

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

Lance was all blue and yellow, eyes sunken, veins black. He lay on a table, tubes in his veins. When his gaze alit on Carly, he turned away.

"Lance?"

"Go away," he rasped. "This is your fault. I told you not to do it."

"What's happening to him?" Carly eyed the beeping health monitors.

"We don't know," said the British woman. "His vitals are dropping. It's not anything we've seen before. Frankly, I'm stumped."

But Carly had seen it before, in the dying plants, the life burned out of them. She'd come to think of it as accelerated aging. She'd burned through all of Lance's years just to bust out of a room where she was perfectly safe.

Carly approached Lance, but the woman stepped in between. "What are you doing?"

"I can help him. I can heal him. Please."

Skye nodded. Carly approached Lance, scooted a shackled hand around so her fingers hover above him, but only felt what she felt when trying to revive a burned-out plant: his life was spent. Carly stepped away, knees wobbling. Lance was going to die. Right now. She had killed him, with her power. Her evil power.

_No. My _power_ isn't evil._

I_ am._

Carly slipped to the floor. All her life, she had dreamed of being evil, of conquering the world, but now that it stared her in the face, she didn't like it. This wasn't what she meant to happen when she fixed Lance, strengthened the Bull. But she had ignored his protests, used him.

Killed him.

"Lance, don't die, please. I'm sorry. I swear I'll never use my power again, but please don't die."

"Get her away from me," he mumbled before sickly coughs wracked his body.

Hands grabbed Carly and lifted her away. "No. No! He needs me. I won't let him die!"

But agents dragged her from the room and into some kind of windowless cell. Tears burst from her eyes. Guilt and shame ran through her body.

Skye just stood there in the doorway, face impassive. "If he dies, there will need to be an accounting."

Carly dropped to her knees, unable to staunch the tears gushing from her eyes. She was evil. She was the monster. "I just wanted to help him. You have to believe that." She didn't even believe it herself anymore.

The British woman stepped in, looked down, and shook her head. "I'm sorry."

Carly screamed and fell to the floor.

It was impossible. She loved him and he was taken from her. They were the ones who locked them in that room. They were the ones who forced her to use her power when she had little idea it could kill. How could she be held responsible for that? And the Governor had kept them apart in the first place. If they could have just talked, they wouldn't be in this situation.

Carly pounded the floor with her fists, anger and rage and grief all mixed together. "He wasn't supposed to die."

"People die every day in our business. And for what?"

Carly glared at Skye through a haze of tears. "For nothing. For someone to have more power than the next guy. For revenge. For the thrill. And…" Carly swallowed hard. "…and out of fear."

"But right now, we have a mad woman tearing up the Virginia countryside. How many more deaths do you want in your name? Deaths you might be able to prevent?"

Carly lay on the ground, staring at the wall. "You don't seem to understand. My power, it's not giving life. It's dealing out _death_. If you put me out there, I can't guarantee that there won't be collateral damage. You're asking me to put out a house fire by burning the whole street down. If I go out there I will destroy things. Please find another way."

Skye sighed and shook her head. "Okay. We'll deal with that woman. Sorry for your loss. You just sit tight."

Which was just what Carly did, arms wrapped around her shoulders once she forced the shackles off her wrists, using her power to deform her arms and then fix them. Lance was dead. She was evil. For-real evil. Not just playing evil like kids did when playing cops and robbers. No matter who she blamed—her father for making her this way, her training which taught her to trade lives for her own gain, Lance for being strong but not strong enough, her own giddy swoon around him—she was ultimately the one with the power over life and death. Lance wasn't one of the bad guys. Lance would never have used his bull power to hurt anyone; in fact, he'd been torn up every time there was a victim of his uncontrollable condition.

Not Carly. She _wanted_ to use her power, thrived on it. She stood. She could feel them, all the lives on this aircraft. Skye studying the battle. The pilot in the cockpit. The scientists in their lab. The weapons experts. She could just reach out and make their hearts burst from their chests, make their brains ooze out their ears. Of course she didn't know much about flying an airplane, but that's not really what stopped her. Actually, she wasn't really sure at all what stopped her. But the thoughts, the anger, the rage, how much longer could she endure it until it all burst out of her?

She lay on the floor while the craft went who-knows-where. She didn't care anymore. The only thing she cared about was gone. Let the plane crash for all she cared.

Some kind of chirping tone echoed through the craft. Through a small window in the door, Carly could just see a monitor. On it, Carly saw a ship approaching, one of the X-Men craft. It somehow docked to the top of the plane, a pretty nifty trick. Great. Wolverine and Professor Xavier come aboard along with Mystique. Skye greeted them, talking and pointing to Carly's cell. Woot. They all seemed angry and argued for a minute, then Xavier broke away and headed toward Carly. Skye led the rest to some other part of the plane.

Carly sat still when the door opened and Xavier wheeled in. What could she do? He looked more stern than ever. She wiped the tears off her face.

"Well," he said, eyeing the shackles in the corner. "Miss Richards. Quite a day."

"Whatever you're going to say, drop it. I know what I did."

Xavier closed his eyes and breathed. "Yes. You do. Good."

"Good?"

"I feel the conflict within you. You believe yourself evil, but would an evil person feel the grief you now do?"

"What does it matter what I _feel_? It's what I _do_. Nothing I _feel_ can make up for the loss."

"Again, correct. But there _is_ something you can do. It's called _atonement_. Atone for your sins. You might not be able to make things right, and this will always be a scar upon your soul, but you need to make a choice. Either be the evil, the thing inside you that yearns to sow vengeance and hatred across the globe, or be the thing that I believe you were meant to be: a bright young woman of energy and vitality, willing to put herself on the line to serve all of humanity."

Carly snorted. "Right. Sorry. I can't stop being Hydra any more than you can stop being bald, no offense."

His gaze bored into hers. "Then decide what type of Hydra agent you will be. Decide what you stand for. I have faith in you to make the right decision. Now there are some urgent matters I must attend to." The professor backed his wheelchair out of the cell and the door closed him off.

Carly slumped back onto the floor. Well, wasn't that super-helpful? Like she had a choice. The door opened again, this time to Wolverine. Carly jumped up. He wore his X-Men outfit with the mask and body suit.

Wolverine held up his hands, talon-free. "Just here to talk. Professor X thought it would be a good idea."

"I think you've made your position clear." Carly put her hands protectively over her stomach. The man looked a little tongue-tied. "Stab first, ask questions later."

Logan looked down. "Yeah. Threaten one of ours, and I will act. But that's what it's like. We cover each other's backs. If you fight with us, we will protect you. You don't have to come to the academy or anything, just take this opportunity to think about what you want to fight for."

"That's it?"

"Yup."

Carly shook her head. "Thanks but no thanks."

Wolverine sighed and shrugged. He left. Up next was Mystique. She emerged as the beautiful blonde, but changed into herself, a blue-scaled, yellow-eyed, naked monster.

"What do you think?" she asked Carly, pirouetting.

Carly swallowed. "So?"

"This is what is inside of me," said the changeling. "I can be anybody. Many times, I've lost my identity, lost my way. I believed in people I shouldn't have. I have only one thing to ask you, Wild Flower. Show me the real you."

Mystique held a flower in her hand.

"What do you want from me?"

"Show me. Show me what you can do." She waved the flower.

"I'm not using my power for tricks." Now what?

"Show me what you truly are, deep inside. Once you know yourself, your decisions will become simple."

Carly frowned. She was tired of this act. Lance was dead, and soon, so would she be. Why play these stupid games?

Mystique changed into Carly's mom. "Show me," said Mom.

"Stop it. Stop being my mom!"

Mystique changed into Dad. "Show me," he said.

"Knock it off! This isn't fair. Leave me alone."

Mystique changed one last time. Into Lance.

"Show me," said the doppelganger.

"Aaaaii!" Carly raised her hand, power flowing into her fingertips. If Raven wanted a show, a show Raven would get. The petals grew one by one until they ripped themselves off the stem and crumpled one the floor, turning black. The leaves curled and churned, the stem pulsed and lengthened. Seeds sprouted from the flower. They tumbled down, impaling themselves on the floor and driving roots into the deck, growing up and forming flowers of their own, dropping seeds that Carly forced to grow until the cell was overflowing with plants and flowers and the stink of thrashed vegetation.

Yet Mystique just stood there, unmoving in the midst of all the luscious carnage. "Why do they not attack me?"

Carly stopped growing plants. They were everywhere, carving into the floor and ceiling. But not Mystique. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Why not? Am I not your enemy?" asked the fake Lance.

"No. Not yet, at least."

"If you didn't kill Mystique, why did you kill me?"

Carly thrust her hands out. The plants pulsed, surged, and then grew black, rotten as an old banana, and slumped to the floor, spent. "Because you were nothing but a pretty flower to me."

Carly slapped her hand over her mouth. No. That couldn't be true. That was the Hydra talking, not her. If it was true, then she was even more evil than she thought…she was a psychopath. She slumped to the floor. "What have I done?"

Mystique turned back into her blonde self. "I don't believe you meant to kill him. But you were careless. That in itself is a crime. People like us have great power. Lesser beings cannot possible understand what it means, the temptation to use it. I can become anyone, fool anyone. I have even been the President, kings and queens, CEO's. I can do great damage or great good. I must choose every day. What is your choice, Wild Flower?"

Carly kicked at some of the dead plants near her. "I never wanted these powers. I never asked for them. I just want to be part of something important. I just want to matter."

"So matter. Decide what's right for you instead of listening to whatever's been pounded into your brain all your life. Don't be they person they want you to be. Be the person you were really meant to be."

Carly eyed the floor. What was point of all this? It's not like she could lose her powers. It's not like whatever was growing inside of her wasn't aching to be set free. Yes, these X-Men were powerful. But did they have evil inside of them? Yeah, a lot of them had done evil, hurt people, used their powers for personal gain. But how many of them had been expressly built for destruction, as a weapon? She wished she'd found a way to keep in touch with Bucky. He'd understand. He was made to do evil. He was just like her.

Yet even Bucky had turned away from evil.

That girl raging down there. That might as well be Carly. Look at all the plants and animals she'd destroyed.

Carly stepped past Mystique and looked closer at the monitors. Wait. Where were the dying plants, the suffocating animals? Didn't this crazy woman destroy those things like Carly?

Then Carly realized—it's a different power. It looks like Carly's, but it wasn't…same effect, different source. Carly looked at Mystique, held out her hand. "With a thought, I can cause your heart to burst. I can cause your hair to burrow into your brain. I can make your tongue swell so it blocks your throat." And part of her ached to do it.

Mystique stepped back, fluttering back into her blue form. "I don't suggest you try."

"I won't. But I do have a question. Why can't she?" Carly pointed to the monitor.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**: Sorry for the delay. Been one of those couple weeks. :(  
Only 1 chapter left after this! Thanks to anyone who's gotten this far. Would love to hear your thoughts!

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

Carly stepped onto the tarmac of the local Richmond airport. As soon as they touched ground, the plane fired its engines and roared back into the sky. Carly looked down at her suit, a spare X-Men uniform. It's all that fit her, and she'd gotten a lecture about how she really wasn't an X-Man but needed to try to behave like one. To her right was Wolverine, ready for battle. To her left, Mystique, ready to turn into whoever she needed to be. They would approach the Level 1-C and ascertain what the villain _really_ wanted—probably Carly's hide for her apparent betrayal. Hydra took care of their own.

They hopped into a waiting Humvee and headed to where smoke rose along the horizon. Even from here the crackle of gunfire sounded like distance fireworks as troops battled the giant flying fauna.

As they rode down a street, evading bounding cars fleeing in the other direction, a gargantuan animal loped down the street, blotting out the sun.

Carly leaned forward from the back seat and touched Raven's shoulder. "It's a doggie! Stop the car."

Mystique pulled over. "'Doggie?'"

"Holy hounds," said Wolverine. "That's one big bitc—"

"Come on, let's check it out." Carly hopped out of the car. The dog stopped to sniff parked cars. Its tongue lolled out, and its eyes looked wild, frightened. Its leg bled where it had taken some shrapnel.

Carly ran toward it, Wolverine in pursuit.

"What the heck are you doing, kid?"

"Here, doggie! Here!" Carly jumped and waved. The dog sniffed the air and wandered closer, each step shaking the street. Pedestrians screamed and ran. Carly reached out her hands to it, sensed the dog's thumping heart, felt the power that had created this monster. "Hold on. The power at work here—it's not what I do. Poor doggie's just…scaled. Like blowing up a balloon." Could she use her healing power on it? Yes, she could feel the wrongness in the dog, the power that amplified her size. Doggie hadn't grown, she had been inflated. Carly sent out her own power, beating back whatever infected the beast, healing the dog, bringing her back down to size. Hopefully Carly's power wouldn't kill her.

In a minute they stood in front of a lonely normal-sized dog who shivered with her tail between her legs. "Aww, the poor thing." Carly approached carefully. The dog wagged tentatively. Carly used her power to heal the dog's injuries, but no more, not one scrap more than what was necessary. The dog sniffed her fingers, let Carly rub her head. "Oh you poor widdle doggy woggy. Did that mean girl make you super big?" The dog licked Carly's face. "Aww you a cutie. Yes you are, yes you are."

"I think I'm gonna be sick," said Wolverine, arms crossed against his chest.

"Come on, let's get her back to the truck."

Logan held out a palm. "No way. We ain't no animal shelter."

"You are today. Come on, girl, let's get you some water."

Carly led the dog back to the truck, opened the rear gate, and let her in. She poured some bottled water into an empty helmet. As soon as she stepped away, the dog whined pitifully. "Fine, I'll ride in the back with you." She climbed in and signaled to Mystique, and soon the truck moved away.

Carly fed the dog bits of jerky that Wolverine reluctantly parted with while petting the dog's head. Her body shook with rage that her imposter was doing this to people's loyal pets.

After a while, Mystique pulled over. Helicopters swarmed right overhead, jets soared far above, and tanks pointed down the streets. "You're up," said the changeling.

Carly hugged Doggie. "Now you be good, and no more terrorizing neighborhoods." She lay down some mats and papers so Doggie wouldn't have to sleep on bare metal, and then exited the truck.

The world looked like some movie set with lines of Humvees and tanks and rifle-toting soldiers running around in camo. Except explosions hit close by, and a rampaging mega-sparrow flit overhead before the gunfire drove it away. Carly put her hands to her ears to evade the thunder of the weapons, her heart thumping wildly. They scooted over to a line of soldiers manning a barricade. Wolverine went to talk to their leader. While Carly was waiting, a voice spoke behind her.

"Don't turn around. It's me."

Carly glanced behind anyways. The long hair was gone, but it was Larry, her Hydra contact, dressed in military fatigues. "Larry? What the hell is going on here? Who is she?"

"One of ours, gone rogue. She got into a stash of something, we don't know what yet."

"It's some kind of expansion device, makes things bigger. But why is she calling for me, using my name?"

"Who knows? Apparently she's obsessed with you. But you need to put her down. It's not the kind of attention we need right now. Can you do it?"

Carly looked over at Wolverine and Mystique. "Termination?"

"Acquisition if possible. Don't let her fall into the wrong hands. Do what you have to."

Carly swallowed. "So how's Annapolis? They treating you okay?"

"Yeah. Beat up a few guys my first week. They don't like it but I don't give them any reason to hate."

Carly didn't really get why Larry wanted to be an openly gay Marine officer when he could just lie about it, but she guessed that it was to distract them from realizing he was also a Hydra agent.

"Getting in with the X-Men, nice move," he said. "What's your cover?"

"I don't have one. They know everything."

"Interesting angle. So they want to recruit you?"

"Yeah. Not likely. But Larry, Lance Conrad is dead. I could be made to pay." More than she already was.

"Well, you know what do to if you need an exfil."

Mystique was eyeing them. She walked over, poked Larry in the chest. "Hit on girls on your own time, soldier."

"Yes, ma'am." Larry returned to his post.

"Same goes for you," she said to Carly. "Come on. That bitch is right up ahead."

Carly returned to the truck, this time with an escort of Marines. They loaded up and slowly wheeled down the street. As they closed in, all kinds of freaky giant animals appeared, lizards and robins and ants and butterflies. The ones she could reach, she restored back to normal. The ones who attacked, like a bird who pecked at troops like they were worms, Carly reached out and blew out their hearts or brains, a sick mixture of sadness and pleasure as she unleashed her evil power on innocent animals. Curse that rogue agent up there.

They stopped near a building in deserted downtown Richmond. "She's up top," said Mystique. "Let's go."

Creatures swarmed all around them, bugs and flies and snakes. Wolverine cut a path through them with his talons and the Marines fired like crazy until they were safe in the lobby of the building. Carly's ears rang and she gasped for breath from all the running and ducking.

"What's the plan?" she managed to gasp out.

Logan pointed up. "We go up there and fight."

Mystique shook her head. "Let's find out what this is all about."

Carly huffed. She looked at the two. "Fine. There is no plan. Just cover me in case she has any buddies waiting in the wings."

"Well look at you, giving the orders," said Wolverine.

Mystique socked him in the arm. "It's her life they want."

Carly didn't wait. She found the staircase, climbed up the ten floors, and emerged into the harsh sunlight of the roof after regaining her breath.

A girl was up there, sitting in a chair, consulting a laptop, like she was doing homework and not destroying a major city. She faced away from them.

"I'll take her out," said Wolverine, talons extended and ready.

Carly had half a mind to let him, but after Lance, she didn't know if she could use her power to help him if the girl attacked. "Wait, please. Let me talk to her, first. Just cover me."

"Fine," said Wolverine. "It's your hide."

Carly stepped out into the harsh sun. "Hey," she said to the girl, and held her hands out.

The girl whipped around and drew a gun. Typical. All these so-called powers and she draws a simple weapon.

"Well, look what the raggedy X-Men dragged in. Carly frickin' Richards."

Carly tried to place the voice, the mannerisms. She knew she'd just seen her somewhere.

"It's 'Wild Flower' to you. Now who the hell are you?" Good. Bitch couldn't then claim her super name.

"You don't remember? Figures. You with your perfect boyfriend and perfect powers and being the darling of Hydra."

"Doesn't matter what your name is. Now turn off whatever you're using to make everything big and give it up. It's over."

The girl laughed, a damn evil laugh that was ten times more evil than Carly's. "Now why would I want to do that? I've only just begun."

"What do you want from me?"

"Oh, Carly. It's not what _I_ want. It's what your _father_ wants. You see, he has a present for you. Me? I'm just a pawn in the scheme of those greater than me. Someone else pulls my string, honey."

Carly froze at the mention of her father. "What the hell are you talking about?" She'd known her father was involved, somehow, but to actually hear it—this was wrong. Everything about this was wrong.

Evil Wild Flower raised the gun. "It's time for your _true_ powers to be unleashed. Hail _The_ Hydra." She pulled the trigger. A dart struck Carly in the chest, penetrating her uniform, injecting her with something fiery, sending her veins aflame.

Carly screamed and fell.

Wolverine rushed to the girl and raised his arm to decapitate her, but Mystique intervened, capturing the girl.

Carly tried to fight the infection, but it wasn't organic and her power couldn't touch it. "Nanites," she gasped. Not alive, but not dead either. Her weakness.

"Wait for it," cried the girl. "You'd all better stand back. She's going to explode."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N**: Well, we've finally come to the end of the first Carly: Teen Hydra Agent saga. It's been a fun ride.

I hope everyone's enjoyed it. More notes to follow.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

"No!"

Things ripped her veins, crawled into her guts and brain, ready to strike. Carly grabbed her head.

Like a flip on a roller coaster, the whole world receded, became small. The building shrank, crumbling beneath her feet. Carly slid off the side, fell for an eternity, then slammed soft ground. All around her, buildings kept shrinking, until it struck her—_she was growing_, just like the bugs and birds. Whatever invaded her veins ballooned her body, suit and all.

Her head loomed above the buildings. Carly stepped carefully around the streets and sideways, heart hammering her chest, looking for a place to stand with harming anything among the trucks and soldiers and shops. Everything kept shrinking. Would it ever stop? She shivered. If she kept growing, she would destroy a good part of Richmond just by existing. The army must have had the same idea, because all of sudden, troops opened fire.

The bullets and flames pierced, little pinpricks everywhere, wounds battling her ability to heal. Carly covered her face, tried to walk, then run, crushing houses and cars with her knees and ankles. A freeway, mostly empty, offered a path away. She hopped over the bridges and wires.

"What's happening to me?!" She'd always been the one with powers, never had powers used against her before now. The world kept shrinking as her head reached toward the clouds.

Why would Carly's father want to destroy his own daughter? If what that girl said was true, then why do this? A jet fired missiles at her and she swatted them away, burning her fingers. "Ow!" Tanks fired, tiny pellets in her butt. "Curses!"

Wait—what if this was a _test_? That girl had lured her in, using both her names, made herself a royal nuisance. Back in that so-called jail, Dad had mentioned her powers, that if she gets hurt, she'd be stronger than before. Well, this hurt. Roads crumbled beneath her feet like she was walking on sand. She needed to get away from civilization and fast. _There_. A forest. Some state park or other. She strode over some malls and developments, then felt the crunch of trees under her feet. Now she was among vegetation. She closed her eyes and reached out her hands. All the life around her, at her command. This was her element, the crux of her abilities. _Life._ She let her power flow, from the trees to her arms and back.

And then she realized—her power didn't come from within. It came from the plants themselves. It's why they withered and died when she used too much.

She had sucked the life out of Lance. That's what killed him. But she could pull life into herself, and she did, as the forest withered, she used the power to beat back the nanites, to one by one destroy them and their grow-rays, until they were defeated. Like the dog she had rescued, she used the power to heal herself back to normal size, slumping down and down until she was just a girl, laying in a blackened forest that looked like a fire had raged through it, shivering from all the power that still coursed through her veins.

The X-Men suit still clung to her although mostly in tatters. She felt around and discovered the lump of a phone in her pocket. Somehow, it still worked, even after growing and shrinking with her. She punched in the exfil code, hoping Hydra wasn't actually trying to kill her. Emotions surged through her—relief that she had defeated the nanites, horror at what she had done to the countryside for miles around, rage that Hydra had done this to one of their own. She lay there, breathing, staring at the missile-trail-filled sky, with jets zipping around, their thunder breaking on her like the worst storm ever.

The drone of a nearby car engine rallied her. Carly hid behind a rock as it approached. With all the nearby forest destroyed, she's be powerless, unless she wanted to kill more people by ripping out their hearts.

The car stopped. "Carly? Are you here?"

Carly poked her head out and looked at the long black SUV. "Becky?" Her one-time friend, now a hated enemy. How?

"Whoa. Is that you? Come on, kid, let's move," called Becky. "I'm working with your father."

Carly froze. It could be the worst lie of all time. Becky supposedly was with S.H.I.E.L.D. but was she a double, working both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra? The thumping of helicopters grew louder, searching every inch of the forest. Carly had to take a chance. She sprinted to the car and jumped in the back. The car immediately sped away.

Another girl sat in the back, a red-headed thing with freckles and a dimpled chin. Wait. She was the girl from the roof who had done this to Carly. She must have escaped the X-Men somehow…probably Becky's doing. Carly reached for the door and prepared to jump from the moving SUV. The handle didn't budge. Locked. Carly turned back to the girl, ready to rip her heart out, but the girl reached up with a hand and smiled. "Hold, on Carly. We're not the enemy. Name's Ginger. Sorry about all that, orders and all. You did great. I have to say I love the new look."

Carly stared at the hand, half a mind to strangle the girl in her seat. But wait—_Ginger_? Curses! She was that girl from the Science Fair, at the next booth. Hydra had known her plot the whole cursed time! Carly's heart swooned as the realization struck her harder than Wolverine's blades.

Carly would never been free, not for one single second. Defeated, Carly took the hand and shook it. "What look?" Carly scooted over and stared into the rear-view mirror.

She was green. Hulk green. Her hair—it was now made of leaves and grass. Her eyes, her lips, her tongue, all shades of olive and lime and avocado.

"What the hell? I'm the Jolly Green Girl now?" She had only one explanation. Not only had she taken the power of the forest to cure herself, she had somehow taken in the essence as well.

Becky laughed as they slipped past troops scrambling to find them. "At least you don't look like a Hydra."

Carly crossed her arms slumped in her seat, brain unable to process. It would fade, right? She wasn't about to spend her life looking like a woodland nymph. She barely contained the rage that would send the SUV into a ditch if unleashed. They passed through an area with a giant crater—one of Carly's footsteps. "How bad is it? How much damage?"

"Not sure. You might have wiped out all the crops in the surrounding counties."

"How many dead?"

Becky glanced at Ginger. "Enough. Listen, Wild Flower, let's get something straight. Everyone knows who you are now. You're wanted for the murder of Lance Conrad. You're sought for the destruction of Richmond and the surrounding areas. You no longer get to play the innocent card. You're now firmly on the list of super-villains. We made sure of it. And now, with your…distinctive…appearance, you'll have no place to hide."

Loathe as she was to admit it, Carly realized that Becky was probably right. There was no coming back from this. Sure, she might have been tricked into some of it, but Lance—Lance was all her doing. Like her green skin, it was a stain on her soul she might never lose.

They drove through Carly's miles of destruction. Forests burned beyond recognition. Highways pummeled. Ambulances swarming at every building she had crush. She was a monster. A wanted fugitive. A non-hero.

All Carly had wanted was to make Lance better, help rescue her father. Now she was the world's newest super-villain—something she'd thought she always wanted. She looked at her arms, green with moss instead of hair.

Something moved in the street ahead. "Stop the car!"

The driver slammed the brakes. A dog sat in the road, panting.

"Wait here," said Becky, drawing a gun.

"No way. I know that dog."

"Carly!"

"Open the damn door."

"No"

Carly leaned forward and grabbed Becky's chin, rage running through her veins. "Do it."

Becky looked into Carly's eyes and shivered. She nodded to the driver.

Carly popped out of the car and ran to meet Doggie. "Aw. What are you doing here all alone?"

But of course, the dog wasn't alone. Wolverine stepped out from behind a van on the side of the street. On the other side was Mystique.

"Step back," yelled Becky, running after Carly. Ginger also held a weapon, maybe the one she'd used over in Richmond.

Carly knelt next to the dog, petting her.

"Stop right there," said Wolverine, talons out, ready to strike.

Mystique stepped up. "We can help you. If you go with them, then you will be our enemy. Your life doesn't have to be like this. Come with us and we can fix what they've done to you."

Carly looked at them, and looked back at Becky.

"You've made a vow to us," said Becky. "To your father."

Doggie licked Carly's face. At least Doggie didn't mind Carly's new, hideous look. "No one has done anything to me," she said, defeat thickening her blood. "This is who I am. Doesn't anyone get that? I _am_ Wild Flower. I _am_ The Hydra. I'm a monster. I don't belong with X-Men or S.H.I.E.L.D."

Mystique stepped forward. "It's not about _belonging_. It's about fighting the fights that need to be fought. The world is in peril, and Hydra isn't even near the top of our concerns. You have to make a choice. If you continue down this path, it only leads to darkness. Trust me, I've been there."

"We've all been there," said Wolverine.

"Well, Jeez, it sounds like I'm on the right path," said Carly, standing, facing the X-Men. Tempting as it sounded, she'd be just as much a prisoner with them as she was with Hydra. At least with Hydra she'd be with what passed for her family. "If I need you, I'll call. How does that sound?"

Mystique and Wolverine glanced at each other, and charged.

Carly held up a hand, power flowing, stronger than ever, ready to destroy the X-Men. The two stopped and blinked.

"Kill them," said Becky with obvious glee. "Finish this."

Carly smiled grimly. Damn, Becky was bloodthirsty. Killing them was the last thing on her mind. After all, they seemed sincere in their efforts to help her. But Carly had power over life. "I have a better idea."

Wolverine and Mystique turned to each other and awkwardly hugged. Mystique's body twitched, her skin and hair rapidly changing shades, blue and tan and white and red. Wolverine's veins bulged as he fought the power forcing his body to move. Doggie barked at them, tail between her legs.

"How are you doing that?" breathed Becky.

"I control their muscles. Trust me, they aren't loving it. I'm sorry, guys, but I've got to follow my own path." Her captives turned their heads to her, anger and fright writ in their eyes. Who knows if they'd ever faced a power like Carly's? "I won't forget what you did for me."

Carly motioned to the girls, and they retreated back to the truck, Doggie in tow. As they drove away, Carly held the X-Men as long as she could, and then released them. "Move it, they're free."

The car zoomed to a clearing where a helicopter waited, rotors spinning and washing them with bursts of wind. They jumped in, and in seconds, the helicopter zoomed up and over the destruction.

It took a few tense moments to evade the damaged area, but soon they were away from the destruction and the prowling jets.

They all donned flight headphones to hear over the roar of the engine. The copilot turned to them. "Everyone alright?" he said through his helmet mic. Goggles obscured his face.

Carly nodded, Doggie in her lap.

"Well, Carly, I must say I'm proud of you. You're everything we hoped you would be. And what you did to Logan and Raven…magical."

Carly shivered. The voice, distorted as it was, was familiar. Could it be? She shivered. "Daddy?"

He pulled off his helmet and goggles. It was Dad!

"Hi, Sweetie. Welcome to the Club. Welcome to the Inner Circle. You're now officially a full member. We have so many plans for you, so many things that you can do. Carly, I just want to be the first one to say this to you." He extended his hand in the Nazi-like salute. "Hail Hydra."

Carly slumped in her seat. Yes, now she was in the so-called Club, a villain's villain, freakishly green, able to destroy nature and control human bodies, even powerful superhero's. She was now destined to live a life of solitude, because who the heck would ever look at her now?

Doggie looked up and panted. Carly petted her head and stared out the window. She sighed and looked back at her dad. This was her destiny. There was no other way her life could have turned out.

"Mystique said Hydra wasn't even their biggest concern. We need to change that. But it's not going to come at the cost of more innocent lives. If you want me, then no more deaths. Destruction, mayhem, fine, but no murder. Understood?"

Dad looked a little pale. "Yes, dear. Of course. Whatever you say. Are you in?"

Carly looked at her frenemies Becky and Ginger. With a thought, she could destroy them. She could look out the window and eliminate whole neighborhoods. This was going to be her life, the tool of an evil organization.

An evil organization that had no idea of what she was really capable of doing. If they wanted her, then they would have her, green skin and a rage that might rival the Hulk's.

"Of course." She glared at her father and raised her arm in a crisp salute. "Hail Hydra."

**The End**

Or is it?

* * *

**A/N**: So that's all for Carly:THA/Wild Flower for now. I might pick it up next year after I see how this coming season of AOS goes.

However, I do have a short piece, a little interlude between these events and the next Carly series, I could throw up here if people are interested, where Carly goes to a comic-con cosplaying as herself. It's sort of a fanfic of my own fanfic, since there's only one Marvel character that ever shows up. Let me know if you'd be interested and I might post it here as a bonus chapter.

Anyways, thanks for reading. And of course... 

Hail Hydra!


End file.
